Global Outbreaks and Origins of a Chikungunya Virus Variant Carrying Mutations Which May Increase Fitness for : Revelations from the 2016 Mandera, Kenya Outbreak.

In 2016, a chikungunya virus (CHIKV) outbreak was reported in Mandera, Kenya. This was the first major CHIKV outbreak in the country since the global reemergence of this virus in Kenya in 2004. We collected samples and sequenced viral genomes from this outbreak.

Two-Component Ferritin Nanoparticles for Multimerization of Diverse Trimeric Antigens.

Antigen multimerization on a nanoparticle can result in improved neutralizing antibody responses. A platform that has been successfully used for displaying antigens from a number of different viruses is ferritin, a self-assembling protein nanoparticle that allows the attachment of multiple copies (24 monomers or 8 trimers) of a single antigen. Here, we design two-component ferritin variants that allow the attachment of two different antigens on a single particle in a defined ratio and geometric pattern.